Srimanta Sankardeva

Vaishnav Saint of Assam Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardeva was born in 1449 into Baro-Bhuyans family near Aali-pukhuri, Assam.
The Baro-Bhuyans family were independent landlords in Assam, and belonged to the Kayastha Hindu caste.
He was a Vaishnavite, social and religious reformer during 15th-16th century.
He inspired the Bhakti Movement in Assam.
His ideas were based on Bhagavata Purana.
Sankaradev is widely credited for developing new forms of music (Borgeet); theatrical performances(Ankia Naat, Bhaona); dance form (Sattriya), and literary language namely Brajavali.
His teachings are credited to have integrated different castes and groups of people in Assam into one cultural unit.

Poetic works of Srimanta Sankardeva (kavya)

Bhaona

Bhaona is a traditional form of entertainment, always with religious messages, prevalent in Assam, India.
The history of Assamese drama begins with the plays of Mahapurusha Srimanta Sankardeva (1449-1568) written in the early sixteenth century.
These plays are popularly known as Ankiya Nats and their staging is known as bhaona.
It is a simple drama which shows the victory of truth at the climax, generally using fictitious or mythological kings, queens, demons, Gods, soldiers etc.
Bhaona was created by Sankardeva. He himself wrote seven dramas (called Ankia Naat) for performance in Bhaona.
‘Ankiya’ means one act and ‘Nat’ means drama. Therefore, ‘Ankiya nat’ simply means one act play.
These plays are composed of an orchestra who are called ‘Gaayan'(singers) and ‘Baayans'(instrumentalists) and actors.
There is one Sutradhar who begins the play by narrating the story of the play who acts as the chorus of the English plays.
Khol, Taal, Doba and Nagara are some musical instruments used in the play.